It&#8217;s important to commemorate anniversaries of important occasions. For the Calgary Flames, today is a big one. 25 years ago today &#8211; Dec. 19, 1995 &#8211; the Flames acquired the best player that ever wore their jersey.
25 years ago today, Jarome Iginla was acquired by the Flames.

The swap broke down as follows: the Flames sent holdout forward Joe Nieuwendyk to Dallas for Iginla and forward Corey Millen.
Nieuwendyk, then 29, was in the midst of a holdout due to a contract impasse with then-general manager Al Coates. The Flames were also in the midst of (a) a gradual tear-down of the powerhouse 1989 Stanley Cup team and (b) weathering an economic storm, as the Canadian dollar had dropped from about 86 cents U.S. in 1990 to 73 cents U.S. in 1995. (For teams taking in Canadian dollars but paying their expenses in American, it was a big deal.)
Two months into the 1995-96 season, Coates decided to pull the trigger on a deal. After 13 teams indicated interest, reportedly the serious suitors boiled down to Dallas and the New York Rangers. The Rangers weren&#8217;t interested in giving up a top prospect, while Dallas entertained talks involving either Iginla or Todd Harvey. Coates preferred Iginla and the deal was consummated.
Back in 2019, Coates recalled the process <a href="https://flamesnation.ca/2019/03/01/how-jarome-iginla-came-to-calgary/">during an appearance on Sportsnet 960 The Fan</a>:
<blockquote>“We had a really good player in Joe Nieuwendyk who was not playing for us,” recalled Coates. “So you make a decision as to whether or not to let him sit and do nothing, or try to make the team better for the immediate future and long-term future, which was the main criteria of the transaction.”
Coates added that the important thing in any Nieuwendyk trade would be getting a “can’t-miss” prospect back. Given the trajectory of the franchise at the time, he felt that was crucial.
“In this particular case, it was all about the future because we were going through a bit of a rebuild,” said Coates. “[Al] MacInnis was gone already. Mike Vernon had been previously traded to Detroit. Gary Roberts was having injury problems. We definitely were starting to put pieces together again for the future of the franchise. So the piece was the most critical thing, the criteria was the most important thing that we did to really understand and examine what it was that we had to get back if we were going to make a transaction like this. That was the key.”</blockquote>
Joining the 19-year-old Iginla in Calgary was Millen, a 31-year-old two-way winger who was two seasons removed from a 20-goal campaign. He was a good depth player for the Flames, but left North America following the 1996-97 season.
But the crown jewel of the deal was Iginla, a star with the Kamloops Blazers and one of the top players in Canadian major junior hockey. (He originally thought he had been traded to the Hitmen before learning he had been part of an NHL trade.) At the time of the trade, Nieuwendyk was the Flames franchise&#8217;s all-time leading scorer (having recently passed Al MacInnis). Iginla eventually became the team&#8217;s all-time leading scorer, passing MacInnis, Nieuwendyk and Theoren Fleury in the process.
Iginla scored 525 goals and 1095 points for the Flames. He was their longest-serving captain. He had his #12 retired and was voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. And it all started with a trade with Dallas on this date in 1995, the most important trade in Flames history.

It's important to commemorate anniversaries of important occasions. For the Calgary Flames, today is a big one. 25 years ago today - Dec. 19, 1995 - the Flames acquired the best player that ever wore their jersey.

25 years ago today, Jarome Iginla was acquired by the Flames.



The swap broke down as follows: the Flames sent holdout forward Joe Nieuwendyk to Dallas for Iginla and forward Corey Millen.

Nieuwendyk, then 29, was in the midst of a holdout due to a contract impasse with then-general manager Al Coates. The Flames were also in the midst of (a) a gradual tear-down of the powerhouse 1989 Stanley Cup team and (b) weathering an economic storm, as the Canadian dollar had dropped from about 86 cents U.S. in 1990 to 73 cents U.S. in 1995. (For teams taking in Canadian dollars but paying their expenses in American, it was a big deal.)

Two months into the 1995-96 season, Coates decided to pull the trigger on a deal. After 13 teams indicated interest, reportedly the serious suitors boiled down to Dallas and the New York Rangers. The Rangers weren't interested in giving up a top prospect, while Dallas entertained talks involving either Iginla or Todd Harvey. Coates preferred Iginla and the deal was consummated.

Back in 2019, Coates recalled the process <a href="https://flamesnation.ca/2019/03/01/how-jarome-iginla-came-to-calgary/">during an appearance on Sportsnet 960 The Fan</a>:
<blockquote>“We had a really good player in Joe Nieuwendyk who was not playing for us,” recalled Coates. “So you make a decision as to whether or not to let him sit and do nothing, or try to make the team better for the immediate future and long-term future, which was the main criteria of the transaction.”

Coates added that the important thing in any Nieuwendyk trade would be getting a “can’t-miss” prospect back. Given the trajectory of the franchise at the time, he felt that was crucial.

“In this particular case, it was all about the future because we were going through a bit of a rebuild,” said Coates. “[Al] MacInnis was gone already. Mike Vernon had been previously traded to Detroit. Gary Roberts was having injury problems. We definitely were starting to put pieces together again for the future of the franchise. So the piece was the most critical thing, the criteria was the most important thing that we did to really understand and examine what it was that we had to get back if we were going to make a transaction like this. That was the key.”</blockquote>
Joining the 19-year-old Iginla in Calgary was Millen, a 31-year-old two-way winger who was two seasons removed from a 20-goal campaign. He was a good depth player for the Flames, but left North America following the 1996-97 season.

But the crown jewel of the deal was Iginla, a star with the Kamloops Blazers and one of the top players in Canadian major junior hockey. (He originally thought he had been traded to the Hitmen before learning he had been part of an NHL trade.) At the time of the trade, Nieuwendyk was the Flames franchise's all-time leading scorer (having recently passed Al MacInnis). Iginla eventually became the team's all-time leading scorer, passing MacInnis, Nieuwendyk and Theoren Fleury in the process.

Iginla scored 525 goals and 1095 points for the Flames. He was their longest-serving captain. He had his #12 retired and was voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. And it all started with a trade with Dallas on this date in 1995, the most important trade in Flames history.

25 years ago, Jarome Iginla became a Flame

Flames reports cards: grading each defenceman and goalie through November

Calgary Flames center Nazem Kadri (91) prior to a face-off during the second period against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden

Recent articles from Ryan Pike

Breaking News